Last night, POLITICO ran a FISA‐related story with the lede,“Republicans authorize sharing of classified report on FBI, DOJ officials’ conduct.” These are the two opening paragraphs:
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have authorized their colleagues to access a highly classified report that they say details their concerns with the conduct of top FBI and Justice Department officials, as well as the agencies’ handling of a controversial surveillance program.
“We have concerns — FISA concerns — that all members of the body should know,” said Rep. Mike Conaway (R‑Texas), a member of the committee, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Some of President Donald Trump’s allies in the House have argued that the program was inappropriately used to surveil a foreign policy aide to the Trump campaign.
Since then, several other House GOP members have weighed in on Twitter about the memo in question: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R‑FL), Rep. Steve King (R‑IA), Rep. Lee Zeldin (R‑NY), and House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows (R‑NC).
Of the seven members I’ve seen raise this issue either in the POLITICO story or on Twitter, only one–Meadows–voted against the FISA surveillance expansion bill (S. 139) when it was before the House last week. That fact certainly raises some interesting questions the other six who did vote for S. 139 should answer:
- When did the Representative learn of the HPSCI majority staff report in question—before or after the vote on S. 139?
- If the Representative learned of the memo before the vote on S. 139, why did he not publicly push for its release to all House members prior to the vote on S. 139?
- If the Representative learned of the memo before the vote on S. 139, why did the Representative vote in favor of a FISA bill that Fourth Amendment experts across the political spectrum argue would make such abuses more likely?
- Since Meadows voted against S. 139, does he believe the House leadership should allow a new FISA reform bill to be brought to the floor to address the alleged abuses detailed in the memo?